1927-07-06 Merced, California, USA
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leigh appeared in radio programs before her first formal foray into acting, making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). With MGM, she appeared in many films which spanned a wide variety of genres, which include the crime-drama Act of Violence (1948), the drama Little Women (1949), the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951), the romance Scaramouche (1952) and the western drama The Naked Spur (1953). She played dramatic roles during the late 1950s, in such films as Safari (1956) and Orson Welles's film noir Touch of Evil (1958). With RKO Radio pictures she co-starred in the romantic comedy Holiday Affair (1949) with Robert Mitchum. Leigh achieved her biggest success starring as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Psycho (1960). For her performance, Leigh won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Intermittently, she continued to appear in films, including Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Harper (1966), Night of the Lepus (1972), and Boardwalk (1979). She made her Broadway debut in 1975 in a production of Murder Among Friends. She would also go on to appear in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis: The Fog (1980) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). In addition to her work as an actress, Leigh also wrote four books between 1984 and 2002, two of which were novels. Leigh had two brief marriages as a teenager (one of which was annulled) before marrying actor Tony Curtis in 1951. The pair's highly publicized union ended in divorce in 1962, and after starring in The Manchurian Candidate that same year, Leigh remarried and scaled back her career. She died in October 2004 at age 77, following a year-long battle with vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels.
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Rat Pack | Self (archive footage) | 2022-01-11 |
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I Am Alfred Hitchcock | Self | 2021-05-02 |
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Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil" | (archive footage) | 2019-02-21 |
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Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe | Self (archive footage) | 2012-05-15 |
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Bad Girls from Valley High | Mrs. Witt | 2005-07-17 |
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The Making of 'Psycho' | Self | 2005-10-26 |
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Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog' | Self | 2002-08-27 |
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The American Nightmare | Self | 2000-09-11 |
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Cubby Broccoli: The Man Behind Bond | Herself | 2000-01-01 |
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Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies | Self | 2000-06-27 |
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Mary Pickford: A Life on Film | Self | 2000-09-12 |
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Rat Pack: A Conference of Cool | Self | 1999-12-31 |
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Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows | Self | 1999-01-11 |
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Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius | Self | 1999-10-13 |
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Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special | Self (uncredited) | 1999-09-25 |
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Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Norma Watson | 1998-08-05 |
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In My Sister's Shadow | Kay Connor | 1997-11-12 |
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Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown | Interviewee | 1996-08-18 |
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Inside the Dream Factory | Self | 1995-11-01 |
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Charlton Heston: For All Seasons | Self | 1995-03-20 |
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Hitchcock: Alfred the Great | Himself | 1994-07-01 |
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The Story of Lassie | Self | 1994-08-14 |
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Das Ei | The egg (voice) (archive footage) | 1993-01-01 |
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24 Hour Psycho | Marion Crane (archive footage) | 1993-01-01 |
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Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood | Self | 1987-05-18 |
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The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal | Self | 1986-07-31 |
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Night of 100 Stars II | Self | 1985-03-10 |
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Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1983-02-25 |
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Psycho II | Marion Crane (archival footage) (uncredited) | 1983-06-03 |
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Night of 100 Stars | Self | 1982-03-08 |
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The Fog | Kathy Williams | 1980-02-01 |
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Fear on Film: Inside 'The Fog' | Self | 1980-01-01 |
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The Horror Show | (archive footage) | 1979-02-06 |
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Boardwalk | Florence Cohen | 1979-11-14 |
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Mirror, Mirror | Millie Gorman | 1979-10-10 |
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Telethon | Elaine Cotten | 1977-11-06 |
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Murder at the World Series | Karen Weese | 1977-03-20 |
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Murdock's Gang | Laura Talbot | 1973-03-20 |
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory | Self (archive footage) | 1972-01-10 |
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One Is a Lonely Number | Gert Meredith | 1972-06-19 |
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Night of the Lepus | Gerry Bennett | 1972-10-04 |
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The Deadly Dream | Laurel Hanley | 1971-09-25 |
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House on Greenapple Road | Marian Ord | 1970-01-11 |
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Hello Down There | Vivian Miller | 1969-06-25 |
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The Monk | Janice Barnes | 1969-10-21 |
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Honeymoon with a Stranger | Sandra Latham | 1969-12-23 |
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The Spy in the Green Hat | Miss Diketon | 1967-02-03 |
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Ad ogni costo | Mary Ann | 1967-09-28 |
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Three on a Couch | Dr Elizabeth Acord | 1966-03-01 |
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An American Dream | Cherry McMahon | 1966-08-31 |
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Kid Rodelo | Nora | 1966-01-01 |
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Harper | Susan Harper | 1966-02-22 |
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Bob Hope Christmas Show | Self | 1965-12-15 |
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Bye Bye Birdie | Rosie DeLeon | 1963-04-04 |
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Wives and Lovers | Bertie Austin | 1963-08-29 |
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The Manchurian Candidate | Eugenie Rose Chaney | 1962-10-24 |
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Who Was That Lady? | Ann Wilson | 1960-04-08 |
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Pepe | Janet Leigh | 1960-12-21 |
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Psycho | Marion Crane | 1960-06-22 |
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Menschen, Hoffnungen, Medaillen | Self | 1960-03-14 |
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The Vikings | Morgana | 1958-06-11 |
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The Perfect Furlough | Lt. Vicki Loren | 1958-11-30 |
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Touch of Evil | Susan 'Susie' Vargas | 1958-03-30 |
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Jet Pilot | Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief | 1957-10-11 |
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Safari | Linda Latham | 1956-06-20 |
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Nightmare | Janet | 1956-01-01 |
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Pete Kelly's Blues | Ivy Conrad | 1955-07-31 |
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My Sister Eileen | Eileen Sherwood | 1955-09-22 |
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The Black Shield of Falworth | Lady Anne of Mackworth | 1954-09-02 |
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Prince Valiant | Princess Aleta | 1954-04-05 |
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Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood | 1954-04-18 | |
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Rogue Cop | Karen Stephanson | 1954-09-17 |
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Living It Up | Wally Cook | 1954-08-04 |
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A Star Is Born World Premiere | Self | 1954-09-28 |
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The Naked Spur | Lina Patch | 1953-01-29 |
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Walking My Baby Back Home | Chris Hall | 1953-12-06 |
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Confidentially Connie | Connie Bedloe | 1953-03-12 |
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Houdini | Bess Houdini | 1953-07-02 |
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Fearless Fagan | Abby Ames | 1952-08-15 |
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Come Back Little Shiksa | 1952-01-01 | |
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An Eye for an Eye | 1952-01-02 | |
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Scaramouche | Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon | 1952-05-08 |
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Just This Once | Lucy Duncan | 1952-02-27 |
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Strictly Dishonorable | Isabelle Perry | 1951-07-03 |
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It's a Big Country | Rosa Szabo Xenophon | 1951-11-20 |
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Fairfax Avenue | 1951-01-01 | |
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Angels in the Outfield | Jennifer Paige | 1951-10-19 |
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Two Tickets to Broadway | Nancy Peterson | 1951-11-20 |
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That Forsyte Woman | June Forsyte | 1949-11-03 |
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The Doctor and the Girl | Evelyn 'Taffy' Heldon | 1949-09-29 |
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The Red Danube | Olga Alexandrova aka Maria Buhlen | 1949-10-14 |
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Holiday Affair | Connie Ennis | 1949-12-12 |
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How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border | 1949-01-01 | |
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Act of Violence | Edith Enley | 1949-01-22 |
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Little Women | Meg | 1949-03-10 |
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Words and Music | Dorothy Feiner | 1948-12-31 |
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Hills of Home | Margit Mitchell | 1948-11-25 |
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If Winter Comes | Effie Bright | 1947-12-31 |
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The Romance of Rosy Ridge | Lissy Anne MacBean | 1947-08-04 |
